The South Colonie Central School District is hoping its annual holiday toy drive will be a success.
Toys for Tots returned Monday at Forest Park Elementary School. Library Media Specialist Colleen Kuno says the program, run in collaboration with the Marine Corps, fits well with the school’s character trait of the month:
“We decided as a school community, one of the ways that we could show our thankfulness was to give to others, and you have done an amazing job. We have brought in over 500 toys to help support the families in our community. And what's really great about this is that these toys are going to stay right here in colony. This is the 17th year that the district has partnered with the village of Colonie and the initiative has been led by our bus drivers,” Kuno said.
Drives will also be run at the district’s seven other buildings. Elementary students who brought toys lined them up on the front of the stage.
Marine Staff Sergeant Ted Kleniewski — or, as the kids call him, Staff Sergeant Ted — is logistics coordinator for Capital Region Toys for Tots.
“I guess you could call me the public relations Marine,” Kleniewski said.
He thanked the school community for their support, asking the assembled kids if they know how the drive is possible:
“You don't know?"
"Nooooooooo……"
It's you guys! It's because you! Without the community support, we would never be able to achieve our mission. This is a community -ran, community-driven program. There's only one of me on the staff. I can't do it all by myself. So it's all up to you guys in the rest of the community to come together every year like you do,” Kleniewski said.
“It's very easy for people to be divided on social media or in media in general. You know, people, they fight over the craziest thing sometimes, but Capital Region Toys for Tots and Toys for Tots’ message, what we do here, it makes people kind of forget about the small stuff and focus on the big picture,” Kleniewski added.
Outside the school district, local businesses are also supporting the effort.
“We have right now close to 700 individual businesses registered in the Capital Region with drop boxes. If we ever come up short, in a specific category, or age range of toys, what we do is we work with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation, we have what's called supplemental toys. So in case we're not raising enough through the community through volunteering efforts, we will have supplemental toys come in to help make up that deficit if needed,” Kleniewski said.
Kleniewski says the community comes up with about 90 percent of the need. And local demand is enormous. He says the program provided toys to 350,000 kids last year, a number that has increased since the pandemic.
“I got involved many years ago, maybe not quite 17, when one of the bus drivers came to me and says, ‘Hey, I want to do something for Toys for Tots.’ I said, ‘go ahead, Kathy. Tell me what it's all about.’ So she says, ‘I want to do Stuff the Bus.’ I thought she was crazy. But lo and behold, here we are in our 17th year. This year is unbelievable. Over 500 toys,” Brian Casey, President of the South Colonie Board of Education.
“Been a bus driver for 35 years with South Colonie. And I've been helping with the Toys for Tots program Stuff the Bus for the last 17,” Steve Gary, a retired Marine, said.
He says being in both worlds is great.
“I know a lot of the kids and see them at the schools. And then they see me as you know, not only a bus driver, but as a Marine Corps veteran as well coming in and helping them with the stuff the bus makes a big, big impression on them.”
Gary says he donates space at his self-storage business to Toys for Toys as well.
Toys are being collected by bus drivers, brought to the Marines, and distributed to kids in need in the area. There’s more information here.
